Social Media Addiction: A Sociological Perspective and Solution Suggestions

In this article, social media addiction is discussed from a sociological perspective. In the light of some classical sociological theories, the causes and effects of addiction are discussed and some solutions are developed. With this sociological perspective, the transformation of social structures, cultural norms and socialization processes are involved in the emergence of social media addiction. The concepts of social integration and anomie from Durkheim, alienation and commodification from Marx, and the approaches of Castells and Turkle in some current studies based on technology and society are discussed in relation to social media addiction. All these are realized with a theoretical method in light of the literature's classical sociological theories. The importance of politicians' involvement in the process, educational processes and social regulations are emphasized in the solutions proposed with a holistic approach in the fight against social media addiction.